Weekend Group Guide | The Read Letters | Things Jesus Said About Hypocrisy
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The Read Letters| Week 2

Things Jesus Said About Hypocrisy

Inductive Bible Study
Universal Group Guide

    Running short on time?

    Feel free to use these questions.

    1. Take a few minutes to pray for any pain or past hurts that may still reside in the hearts of some of your group as a result of hypocritical actions. 
    2. Read all of Matthew 23. Discuss as a group what stands out to you after hearing today's message. 
    3. The Pharisees lived for the approval of man—a struggle that many of us face. Take a few moments to reflect on your day-to-day. Where have you placed the approval of man above the approval of God? 

    Group Reconnect

    • If you could only watch one movie or television series on repeat, what would it be? 

    Open in Prayer

    Looking for an example of an Opening Prayer? Click here.

    Message Recap

    (Note: if you attend the South Barrington campus, you experienced Frozen Jr. as presented by Willow Freinds. Feel free to watch this teaching here OR simply use the group guide on its own.) 
     
    Today we continued our series, The Read Letters, as our campus pastors taught from Matthew 23 about "Things Jesus said about Hypocrisy." In this chapter, we see Jesus having a conversation with the disciples about the Pharisees. The Pharisees had emerged as a religious movement within Judaism. They placed a very high value on purity through rituals and rites, to the point that the outward appearance of being holy and righteous outweighed the internal reality. 
     
    So what is it about hypocrisy as demonstrated by the Pharisees that Jesus took issue with? 
     
    1. Hypocrisy produces a false sense of holiness (v. 3-4). 

    For the Pharisees, they had mistaken influence for holiness. This resulted in a lack of care for the people they were supposed to lead. Their consumption of achieving this status of purity often meant they overwhelmed people with detailed interpretations of the law without consideration or mercy. For them, holiness was pursuing status, notoriety, and influence. Jesus was introducing humility as a way to holiness (v12).

     

    2. Hypocrisy wants us to focus more on doing rather than being (v. 5-7).

    The Pharisees had endless rules focused on achieving by doing. Pharisees weren’t concerned with the approval of God; Pharisees lived for the approval and recognition of men. It makes sense; it’s easier to be someone who pretends to be something of substance than to do the work it takes to form substance. We see this all the time in how we manage our social media accounts, detailing every perfect angle, using apps to modify our appearance, or only posting the inspiring or positive. Hypocrisy tricks us into thinking if we can play the part, no one will know the difference, but when Jesus came to fulfill the law, He set into motion this idea that true transformation comes when we acknowledge the parts we try to hide from Him. 

     

    3. Hypocrisy recognizes the brokenness of others but not our own (v. 8-12).

    Jesus was letting the crowd know that only God deserved the respect the Pharisees accumulated for themselves. That the terminology of Rabbi and Father was intended for us to hold God in the place of reverence. When Jesus says, “You have one teacher, and you are all brothers,” He is equalizing the ground for us to look at each other as peers. 

     

    When Jesus tells the crowd to center their reverence on God and not people, he is reminding them that none of us are immune to the instruction and guidance that we can only get from our true Father. Hypocrisy will have us out here believing that we are better than those around us. 

     

    Our ability to be sober-minded about ourselves and the reality of our brokenness makes us empathetic, curious, and merciful, and most importantly, orients us to a need for a Savior and a guide. 

     

    What is the antidote to hypocrisy?

    The antidote to hypocrisy in the eyes of God is sincerity. Sincerity has no mask. Sincerity reveals what is real, not what is fake. God desires a sincere heart (Ephsians 6:5), a sincere mind (2 Peter 3:1), a sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5), a brotherly love (Rom. 12:9-10), and devotion to Him (2 Cor. 11:3).

     

    Until we are sincere with God, it is impossible to surrender to God.

    Jesus offers the opportunity to surrender our hypocrisy to Him. To know Him and pursue what He said about being a follower of God. 

     

    Where hypocrisy calls us to put on a mask, Jesus calls us to come out of hiding. Where hypocrisy calls us to put on airs, Jesus calls us to humble ourselves. 

    Where hypocrisy calls us to indulge in solely getting our needs met, Jesus calls us to serve others. 

    Discussion Questions

    1. Take a few minutes to pray for any pain or past hurts that may still reside in the hearts of some of your group as a result of hypocritical actions. 
    2. Read all of Matthew 23. Discuss as a group what stands out to you after hearing today's message. 
    3. The Pharisees lived for the approval of man—a struggle that many of us face. Take a few moments to reflect on your day-to-day. Where have you placed the approval of man above the approval of God? 
    4. Read the story of Nicodemus in John 3. In light of today's teaching about the Pharisees, what stands out to you about him? Discuss as a group what you could learn from Nicodemus's story for your own journey. 
    5. With Jesus, we can bring all of who were are. We no longer need to hide anything. Discuss as a group what this freedom has meant to you in your journey. For anyone struggling to walk in this freedom, what is holding you back from fully surrendering? 
    6. What is one “a-ha” you will take from the weekend message and your discussion?
    7. Take a few moments to pray as a group. Ask God to bring forth the courage to surrender all the reasons why you may hide behind hypocrisy and to fully embrace the surrendered and free life in Jesus. 

      Live It Out

      • As we continue to dive into the book of Matthew in this series, consider joining us in going a little deeper through Willow's Daily Devotionals. 

      Close in Prayer

      Looking for an example of a Closing Prayer? Click here.

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